Here is the number 1 reason people dont succeed

Here is the number 1 reason people dont succeedHere is the number 1 reason people dont succeedWhen a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. - Marilyn StrathernThere is a law in statistics known as Goodharts law, named after the economist Charles Goodhart, which proposes that people often focus on the wrong target, mistakenly believing it was the right metric.As an example, a manager of a call center may make the target the number of calls made, believing that the number of calls made will translate to sales.The people who make the most calls then are the ones awarded, even though a sheer number of calls may or may notlage translate to the real goal which may be pleasing the customer or number of sales.This is rewarding A while trying to get B.Why does this matter?According to Dan Sullivan, the founder of Strategic Coach, the reason most people dont succeed long-term is that they are more interested in position than growth.Be honest with yourself.Why do you really want what you want?Why do you put in all of the hours?Most people, if they are honest with themselves, want success because of some form of position it will give them.They wont admit this to you, but deep down, the status is what matters.It is for this reason that success is generally short-lived for most people. Once they achieve a certain degree of status, their motivation for doing the work goes away.When your focus is on status, your job becomes to create and maintain that status. This is particularly common in todays social media world where everyone is attempting to be famous for one thing or another.Growth often comes at the expense of status.In order to keep growing, youll need to risk the status and success of your past for something new and better. Of course, youre not afraid of status. But that status is uninteresting and unimportant to you.The reason most writers will never succeed is that ultimately, what they really want is status. Yet, deep down, they also feel this s trange belief that they need to be pure to their art, so they dont want to do it for money.People who go on to become successful at something are not afraid of success. They arent afraid of making money. But money inherently isnt interesting to them. They are fascinated by growth and pushing their own boundaries. They can never actually quantify success because, for them, that very idea is continuously changing.Theyve never arrived, and they never intend to arrive.They dont care about their previous achievements. They dont care about their status.Do they have a status? Of course When growth is your focus, status generally comes. But that status doesnt matter. Theres no attachment to it. And theres certainly no fear about losing that status.People seeking growth are willing to embrace the unknown. Theyre willing to fail. Theyre willing to attempt stuff that may not work. Actually, when true growth - seeing how far you can actually go - is your only true measure of success, then you re willing to risk everything youve previously built to attempt what you want or believe you should do.Status is not what you should be measuringHow do we often measure a persons success?Its by their status.Status, then, can become our measure of success. And when the measure becomes the target, then it is no longer a useful measure.If a status is what youre seeking, then youre long-term growth is screwed. Once you get what you want, all of your motivation will evaporate. Youll run out of future to pursue. Youll stop being willing to disrupt your lifestyle or status in order to pursue something bigger and better.Status should be used as a means, not an endDont be afraid to obtain a status and leverage it to move forward. Dont be afraid of people calling you a sell-out.Dont be afraid of people being jealous of you and stealing your work.If growth is your focus and true motive, then youll do some powerfully innovative stuff. Youll be an industry transformer who doesnt merely play the game, but changes and creates the game.In due process, youll develop status and success. And you wont be afraid of that. In fact, youll often seek various statuses as a means of pursuing greater and greater growth. But the status itself means absolutely nothing to you. And the moment that particular status becomes a hindrance to the growth youre seeking, you eliminate that status from your life.You dont hold on to it.Youre willing to destroy what you were for what you will become.You never over-attach to a particular identity or status.You use them to move forward. But status is far from your target. Its a measure, not a target. And you dont have those two things confused.As a result, you never get derailed by failure or success. Youre fluid, not fixed. You are always pushing your own boundaries, always re-inventing yourself, always pushing your own limits of what is possible.Because you dont care about status, you always create new and more compelling statuses. You have what other people want, and what their measure of success is. And you never cared about it in the first place.To quote Viktor Frankl from Mans Search for Meaning Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success you have to let it happen by not caring about it Success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it.When growth is your true goal, you have no real competition. You know that most of the competition, at some point or another, will achieve some status and eventually seek solely to maintain that status. And when your ultimate goal is simply to maintain where you are, then youre well on your way to falling completely apart.Ready to upgrade?Ive created a cheat sheet for putting yourself into a PEAK-STATE, immediately. You follow this daily, your life will change quickly.Get the cheat sheet hereThis article first appeared on Medium.